Get to know Santos Dumont House – Father of Aviation

Today I will tell you about the charming house of Santos Dumont.

Santos Dumont’s house is located in Petrópolis, the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro and the imperial city of Brazil, where Dom Pedro II had his summer home. Santos Dumont, as everyone knows, is the father of aviation. He developed the first project to keep flying in the world.

Petrópolis is 68 km from the capital, Rio de Janeiro. To get there, you can rent a car, go by bus from the Novo Rio motorway (which can be reached by VLT from the city center) or by a tour with a tourism company, such as S2RIO.

See information about our tour of the imperial city here. It includes, in addition to other points of interest, such as the imperial museum, the visit to the house of Santos Dumont.

—

The Santos Dumont Museum keeps memories and some of his father’s aviation inventions. It is on a small slope in the center of Petrópolis. Santos Dumont designed the house and used it as a summer house until 1932, when he died. The house, built in 1918 in the French Alpine style, was considered an architectural innovation for the time, since it is a structure totally oriented to satisfy the very personal tastes of its owner, Santos Dumont.

The three-story villa with a terrace took three months to complete, which contradicted even the closest friends of the genius who challenged him to build the house on such steep terrain.

One of the most striking features are the very steep stairs, built to save space. They are racket-shaped, that is, one foot at a time, so that the ascending leg does not hit the shin in the next step due to the steep character of the structure.

On the stairs, you should start with the right foot, which made many people think it was the scientist’s superstition, but in reality it was only a practical feature.

—

The small house served as a bedroom, library, dining room and work room, that is, so that the inventor could make the most of it in a short time. The original floor plan of the house is right there.

The structure was created by the architect Armando Telles. Santos Dumont developed the sketch and details, and delivered this original idea for the architect to structure the building.

The house has no kitchen. Santos Dumont ordered food from a restaurant in a university across the street, and the waiter brought him his house.

Come and honor this Brazilian genius. It is certainly an unforgettable tour for those who like history.